the first week.

oh, emme kay.  what a week it has been with you.  i have had every intention of writing every day to memorialize this time as much as i could, but i get very caught up in starting at your fuzzy little ears and your long monkey toes and your ever-changing expressions.  so there has not been as much time for writing.

sunday, after you were born, we spent the majority of the day in the l&d room where you were born because the hospital was kind of crazy with lots of births and discharges and our post-partum room wasn't ready quite yet.  some nurses and a lactation consultant came in to help you latch, and you and i started to get the hang of that, albeit slowly.  you had a few visitors - jj & kk of course, and then erin and derek, mike and kim, elissa and antonio, and wendy and david all came by.  by the evening, i was super tired and you were too.  we finally got into the recovery room around 5 and we had two great nurses - jan for the day and theresa for the night.  they both liked you a lot and were super helpful.  sunday night was a little restless.  i was nervous about making sure you were eating frequently enough, but you were super sleepy and so we had a little bit of a battle, but not bad at all considering how new the whole experience was for both of us.  your dad stayed in the room with us and helped call the nurse when i couldn't get you to latch and needed some help at 2 or so in the morning.  they took you around 10:30 or so for about an hour to weigh you again and make sure everything was a-ok with you.  you only lost about 2% of your body weight and came back quickly enough that i didn't have to miss you for that long.

monday was a big day for you.  your great uncle bill came to visit, as did joel, eric, will, and david - some friends of your dad's from work.  the pediatrician came by to check you and you weren't jaundiced at all and you were looking awesome.  you got your hearing test and passed on both ears (yay!) and you didn't even cry during your heel stick to do the metabolic screening thing.  the breastfeeding got much better on monday too, and we got the ok to take you home monday evening after only 36 or so hours in the hospital!  you passed out in the car on the way to your house and seem to love your car seat.  we got home and the dogs were very interested in you, but behaved exceptionally well.  monday night was pretty good.  you had absolutely no interest in being in your bed, but you really didn't get upset about anything and just spent the majority of the night on me or near me.

tuesday was our first full day at home and everything went great.  you were basically only interested in eating and sleeping and we focused on that.  kk kept on top of feeding me so i could stay on top of feeding you.  kk did all our laundry and dad made grocery store runs and we all took turns holding and rocking you.  tuesday afternoon/evening wendy and david came by to visit again and that was fun.  tuesday night was even better than the night before and we spent a lot of cuddle time.  also, my milk started coming in tuesday night, which was awesome for both of us.  you are still eating every 2-3 hours or so and don't cry much at all.  oh!  tuesday night was your first bath and it wasn't a huge success.  your dad and i tried bathing you at the kitchen counter and i think it was just too cold and too much stimulation, but you got over it quickly, you just cried a bit.

wednesday was your first doctor's appointment and you were a total champ!  dad and i loaded you up in your car seat and you slept the whole way there.  you were only a little mad when we had to undress you to weigh you and the nurse was amazed that you were already back at 7 lbs. 12 oz on just breast milk.  we met your pediatrician, dr. treybig, for the first time, and she was super nice.  she said you had lots of bragging rights because of how healthy and perfect you are.  needless to say, your dad and i were very excited about that.  when we got back from the doctor, kirsty and morgan came by to visit and bring some treats for us.  then, dad headed to work and you and kk and i had a great afternoon.  wednesday night was another good night.  amber came by to visit and bring you some cute knitted wares.  by the end of the night, i was pretty worn out, but fortunately you are so good that i can get 2 hours of sleep in a row here and there.

thursday, dad went to work for the whole day and you and kk and i had another great day.  you slept a lot and ate fabulously and i was able to do a little bit of organizing here and there.  fortunately, kk has been around to keep everything clean, and i just try to de-clutter as much as i can.  it's astounding how much laundry you can generate.  apparently, you went through 5 outfits in 24 hours and no one had any recollection of that many wardrobe changes....you also went for your first stroll on thursday.  we made it a little over a block and you seemed to enjoy it a lot in that you passed out instantly.  anyway, thursday night was your best night.  you slept for almost 4 straight hours at one point, which was awesome.  we bathed you in the bathroom on wednesday and thursday night and those baths went much better than your first.  you actually seemed to like the one on thursday night quite a bit....

friday was an amazing day.  you spent the whole day sleeping and eating and looking around.  you are getting more and more alert every day.  erin and derek came to visit you and you loved being held by both of them.  you refuse to be swaddled and only really settle down to sleep if you can kick your feet out.  you also don't really like being on your back, so you pike your feet over to the side, which the doctor said was ok as long as you stayed off your tummy unless you're on one of us.  you adore your bouncy chair that amy and patrick gave you - the vibrations are your favorite part and knock you out.  you spent a lot more time in your crib on friday and are getting very comfortable and secure in there.  friday night was sort of a rough night.  you were so restful the whole day and then when mom and dad bathed you, it was rough.  your little stand thing collapsed and scared you and you got pretty upset.  i picked you up to console you and it knocked your poor cord a little bit.  everything ended up being just fine, it just scared and upset both of us.  anyway....friday night you fought your sleep quite a bit.  it's hilarious because you don't really cry or fuss, you just fidget and squeak and have a lot to say about it all.  it wasn't really bad at all, considering, but you were not interested in sleep until about 5 a.m.

this morning, saturday, is going great again.  you're tired from your nighttime battles and totally laid back today.  a cold front came in during the night, so we're going to have you bundled up and warm today.  jj just came back into town to see you and he said you're so much bigger already!

i can't believe last week at this time we hadn't even met you yet.  you are such an easy and wonderful baby.  i just want to sniff you and kiss every inch of you all day long.